OpTic dominates $250K HCS Orlando Major 2022: Final results
HCSAfter nearly five months, another Halo Infinite Major was finally in the cards with the HCS Orlando Major. Following the lengthy break, OpTic Gaming came out in top form, tearing through Groups before dominating the Championship Bracket, losing just four maps throughout the entire event. Here’s a full recap of how the $250,000 event played out.
- First Major since Kansas City in April.
- OpTic dominated the penultimate LAN event of 2022.
- $250,000 USD prize pool.
Five months since the last big HCS LAN event and we finally had another Major in the first full year of the Halo Infinite cycle. Rosters were shaken up, organizations departed the scene, and GAs were still all the talk. But it was finally time to crown a new champion after an extended wait and OpTic was quick to take the throne.
Squads from four distinct regions flew into Orlando to push through the Open Bracket, Group Stage, and eventually, the Championship Bracket. But it was ultimately the Green Wall that proved stronger than the rest.
HCS Orlando Major: Final Placements (Top 12)
| Placement | Team | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | OpTic Gaming | $140,000 |
| 2nd | Cloud9 | $84,000 |
| 3rd | FaZe Clan | $42,000 |
| 4th | Sentinels | $21,000 |
| Top 6 | G2 Esports | $11,000 |
| Top 6 | eUnited | $11,000 |
| Top 8 | Oxygen Esports | $7,000 |
| Top 8 | Gamers First | $7,000 |
| Top 12 | Natus Vincere | $3,150 |
| Top 12 | Team WaR | $3,150 |
| Top 12 | Native Red | $3,150 |
| Top 12 | TSS Esports | $3,150 |
HCS Orlando Major: Results
Friday, September 23 (Group Stage)
A Stream
| Group | Match |
|---|---|
| Group A | OpTic 3-0 Acend |
| Group D | eUnited 3-0 Spacestation |
| Group B | G1 3-0 Quadrant |
| Group C | Sentinels 3-0 G2 Esports |
| Group A | OpTic 3-2 FaZe |
| Group D | Cloud9 1-3 eUnited |
B Stream
| Group | Match |
|---|---|
| Group B | G1 3-2 N8V Red |
| Group C | Sentinels 3-1 NAVI |
| Group A | FaZe 3-0 Acend |
| Group D | Cloud9 3-0 Spacestation |
| Group B | N8V Red 2-3 Quadrant |
| Group C | G2 Esports 3-1 NAVI |
C Stream
| Group | Match |
|---|---|
| Group A | FaZe 3-0 Chiefs |
| Group D | Cloud9 3-0 JLINGZ |
| Group A | OpTic 3-0 Chiefs |
| Group D | eUnited 3-1 JLINGZ |
| Group A | Acend 3-0 Chiefs |
| Group D | JLINGZ 3-1 Spacestation |
D Stream
| Group | Match |
|---|---|
| Group B | Quadrant 3-0 Cintanegra |
| Group C | G2 Esports 3-0 Cruelty |
| Group B | N8V Red 3-0 Cintanegra |
| Group C | NAVI 3-0 Cruelty |
| Group B | G1 3-0 Cintanegra |
| Group C | Sentinels 3-0 Cruelty |
Saturday, September 24 (Group Stage & Championship Bracket)
| Group | Match |
|---|---|
| Group A | Chiefs 0-3 Fnatic |
| Group A | Acend 3-1 Fnatic |
| Group A | FaZe 3-0 Fnatic |
| Group A | OpTic 3-0 Fnatic |
| Group | Match |
|---|---|
| Group B | Cintanegra 0-3 Oxygen |
| Group B | N8V Red 3-2 Oxygen |
| Group B | Quadrant 0-3 Oxygen |
| Group B | G1 3-0 Oxygen |
| Group | Match |
|---|---|
| Group C | Cruelty 0-3 TSS Esports |
| Group C | NAVI 3-1 TSS Esports |
| Group C | G2 3-0 TSS Esports |
| Group C | Sentinels 3-0 TSS Esports |
| Group | Match |
|---|---|
| Group D | Spacestation 3-0 Falling Esports |
| Group D | JLINGZ 3-1 Falling Esports |
| Group D | Cloud9 3-0 Falling Esports |
| Group D | eUnited 3-0 Falling Esports |
| Series | Match |
|---|---|
| Winners Bracket | OpTic 3-0 Oxygen |
| Winners Bracket | eUnited 3-0 G2 Esports |
| Winners Bracket | Sentinels 1-3 Cloud9 |
| Winners Bracket | G1 1-3 FaZe |
| Winners Bracket | OpTic 3-1 eUnited |
| Winners Bracket | Cloud9 1-3 FaZe |
| Series | Match |
|---|---|
| Losers Bracket | Chiefs 2-3 Proton Gaming |
| Losers Bracket | Falling Esports 0-3 Team WaR |
| Losers Bracket | Cruelty 0-3 Complexity |
| Losers Bracket | Cintanegra 0-3 Anime Demons |
| Losers Bracket | Spacestation 3-2 Proton Gaming |
| Losers Bracket | Quadrant 2-3 Team WaR |
| Losers Bracket | Fnatic 3-1 Complexity |
| Losers Bracket | TSS Esports 3-0 Anime Demons |
| Losers Bracket | NAVI 3-0 Spacestation |
| Losers Bracket | Acend 1-3 Team WaR |
| Losers Bracket | N8V Red 3-0 Fnatic |
| Losers Bracket | JLINGZ 0-3 TSS Esports |
| Losers Bracket | Oxygen 3-2 NAVI |
| Losers Bracket | G2 Esports 3-0 Team WaR |
| Losers Bracket | Sentinels 3-0 N8V Red |
| Losers Bracket | G1 3-0 TSS Esports |
Sunday, September 25 (Championship Bracket)
| Series | Match |
|---|---|
| Winners Bracket Finals | OpTic 3-0 FaZe |
| Losers Bracket | Oxygen 2-3 G2 Esports |
| Losers Bracket | Sentinels 3-2 G1 |
| Losers Bracket | Cloud9 3-0 G2 Esports |
| Losers Bracket | eUnited 2-3 Sentinels |
| Losers Bracket | Cloud9 3-0 Sentinels |
| Losers Bracket Finals | FaZe 1-3 Cloud9 |
| Grand Finals | OpTic 4-1 Cloud9 |
HCS Orlando Major: Streams
The HCS Orlando Major kicked off at 9AM PT | 12PM ET on Friday, September 23 and ran late into the evening with the final matches starting at 4:30PM PT | 7:30PM ET. Both Saturday and Championship Sunday began at the same times and followed a similar schedule.
As always, games featured across four separate broadcasts. Most of the action could be followed on the main Halo Twitch channel, while various other matchups were shown on HCS, HCS Red, and HCS Blue.
HCS Orlando Major: Format
Keeping in line with the typical HCS LAN event format, the Orlando Major was split into multiple stages. At the lowest rung was the Open Bracket where dozens of teams battled in an enormous double-elimination bracket. Their goal was to reach the top eight and in doing so, earn a spot in the next stages. The top four advanced through the Group Stage while the remaining four advanced straight to the Championship Bracket.
In the Group Stage, 20 teams competed for seeding. The better they placed in their respective group, the better starting position they had in the Championship Bracket, at least on paper.
Finally, it all culminated in the Championship Bracket with 24 teams going head to head in a double-elimination tournament. All games were best of five except for the Grand Final series which was best of seven.
Of note for Orlando, the top 12 teams in the Championship bracket secured a spot at the $1m Halo World Championship event in October.
HCS Orlando Major: Teams
| Team | Players |
|---|---|
| OpTic Gaming | aPG, FormaL, Lucid, Trippy |
| Gamers First | bubu dubu, PreDevoNatoR, Squalleye, Swish |
| Sentinels | Frosty, LethuL, Royal2, Snakebite |
| Cloud9 | Bound, Eco, Penguin, StelluR |
| eUnited | Rayne, RyaNoob, Snip3down, Suspector |
| G2 Esports | Barcode, Gilkey, Sabinater, Str8 Sick |
| Native Red | Druk, Manny, SoulSnipe, Taulek |
| FaZe Clan | Falcated, KingNick, Renegade, Spartan |
| Acend | Lqgend, Respectful, Sica, Snipedrone |
| Quadrant | Nurix, Shad, SLG, TchiK |
| Natus Vincere | Jimbo, Kimbo, Mighty, Snakey |
| JLINGZ esports | Morguh, Phlux, Quad, SeptiQ |
| Spacestation | Atzo, Drift, Pelu, Tapping Buttons |
| Team Cruelty | DragoniaK, Goriloco, Noblc, Rinnegan |
| CintaNegra Esports | Borgi, Kroonoe, Not Jerry, SSTomm |
| Chiefs Esports Club | Beastn, BZIIRK, Madsy, Slayz |